That is likely to change next summer after high diving was this month confirmed onto the programme for the 2013 World Championships by Fina, world swimming’s governing body.

Having automatically qualified for Barcelona - in September, Hunt won his third successive Red Bull Cliff Diving title in front of 5,000 in Oman - he will be one of the favourites for an event which will take place in the second week of the championships at the city's harbour.

“It’s hard to imagine it but this is a really big step for the sport,” Hunt told Telegraph Sport. “We are seeing more extreme sports being included in major events so it seems only natural to have high diving.

“The sport in Britain is in a great place and there is lots of talents both old and young. It will be a great honour to participate and I can’t wait to take part.”

Hunt, 28, hasn’t been consigned to cliff edge jumps - high divers land feet first - all his career. He represented Britain at the 2006 European Championships in Budapest and also won bronze in the 10m synchro at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in the same year.

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Hunt, who admits that the Red Bull tour has given him the travel bug, said: “Cliff diving has always been in a separate lane but to represent England again, I just feel very happy.”

After the Europeans in 2006, Hunt’s coach received a call from an ex-Australian diver, who was looking for a diver for a month for a show in Italy.

More often than not, he says, divers pursuing a career in cliff diving come straight from 10m platform and are found out when it comes to competition.

Hunt said that the Italian job was a rare chance to consistently dive over 10m and the Briton, who has lived in Paris for two years, hasn't looked back since.

He learnt his trade over the course of the year, started to gradually edge up towards 25m plus dives before joining the tour.

The Red Bull series first started in 2009, having hosted two events the previous year. High diving has taken off to such an extent that International Olympic Committee members will be present in Barcelona to mull over its credentials as a future Olympic sport.

The next time it can be added to the programme will be at the 2024 Games.